Indy Standard

Today, U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) applauded the unanimous Senate passage of their Judicial Understaffing Delays Getting Emergencies Solved (JUDGES) Act of 2024. The bipartisan legislation will now head to the House of Representatives for consideration.

The JUDGES Act of 2024 aims to address judicial emergencies and shortages across the country by increasing the number of federal district judges in the most overworked regions, including the Southern District of Indiana.

“Too many Hoosiers and Americans are being denied access to our justice system due to an overload of cases and a shortage of judges. Our bipartisan bill will help alleviate this shortage and ensure all Americans have the opportunity to have their day in court,” said Senator Young. “Senator Coons and I have worked diligently with our colleagues to ensure this legislation effectively addresses these judicial shortages and fairly distributes the additional judgeships across multiple presidential administrations. The Senate’s unanimous support is a testament to bipartisanship and common-sense legislating. I urge the House to pass this important legislation so that it can become law as soon as possible.”

“I’m grateful the Senate has unanimously passed our bipartisan bill to address the crisis facing overworked federal judges across the country. For decades, Congress has failed to authorize new federal judgeships, creating a massive backlog of case filings for our nation’s federal judges–especially in Delaware, where there are only four active judgeships. I’m proud of the work Senator Young and I did to gather unanimous support for this legislation first in the Senate Judiciary Committee and now on the Senate floor. I urge the House to swiftly pass this bill, and once President Biden signs it into law, I’m hopeful we can restore stability to our judicial system and help ensure access to justice for all Americans, no matter where they live,” said Senator Coons.

Senator Young first introduced the legislation in 2020 and re-introduced it in 2021 and 2023. The JUDGES Act of 2024, which passed the Senate Judiciary Committee by a unanimous vote in June, would act on findings from the nonpartisan 2023 Judicial Conference of the United States report by creating recommended judgeships during future presidential administrations. Additionally, the bipartisan bill includes new transparency requirements and provisions to ensure greater access to justice in certain high-need areas.

Courts across the country are overburdened with a shortage of federal judges. As of March 31, 2023, there were 686,797 pending cases in federal district courts nationwide, averaging 491 filings per judgeship over a 12-month period. In March 2023, the Judicial Conference of the United States recommended that Congress create 66 new district court judgeships, including one in the Southern District of Indiana, to help alleviate this crisis. The Southern District of Indiana would be part of the first tranche of newly-created judgeships under this bill.

Congress bears constitutional responsibility for establishing judgeships in U.S. district courts. However, comprehensive authorization for new judgeships last occurred in 1990 when Congress established 11 additional circuit court judgeships and 74 district court judgeships across America. Since then, targeted legislation enacted between 1999 and 2003 created an additional 34 district court judgeships. It has been two decades since Congress last authorized additional district judgeships.

In addition to Senators Young and Coons, Senators James Lankford (R-Okla.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), and Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) also cosponsored the JUDGES Act of 2024.